Australian captain Steve Smith has no fear of pink ball

Jamie Marcuson

Australia and NSW captain Steve Smith says he is not worried about the pink ball that has received scathing reviews from members of the Prime Ministers XI following their one-day match against New Zealand on Friday night.

"We have a chance to create our own legacy and something really special," he said. "So I'm really excited about all the opportunities that lie ahead."

Smith maintained he was happy to bat at No.4, depending on the make-up of the team, but was adamant he would not bat any lower.

Former Australian great Doug Walters predicted on Saturday that New Zealand's superior pace attack would be the difference between the sides, saying New Zealand were "a fair chance" to win in Australia for the first time since 1985-86.

"We haven't got the greatest side and they have performances on the board that says they can beat us," he said. "I think it would be good for cricket if they beat us, to be honest – it would be great for New Zealand cricket."

Smith did not agree with Walters, saying "everyone's entitled to their opinion", while pointing out "it's going to be a tough challenge for us".

He said if Australia "can play the brand of cricket that we've played so well here in Australia the last couple of years", they would be a good chance of "continuing our success".

With NSW in the final against South Australia in the Matador Cup, Smith was preparing to lead the experienced Blues against his grade cricket teammate Adam Zampa.

Smith also said he was excited by the progress of West Australian opening batsman Cameron Bancroft, who has been widely tipped as Chris Rogers' replacement in the Test side.

"I've been pretty impressed with him," Smith said. "[He] just really loves the game of cricket. He trains extremely hard and he's got that sort of grit about him, which I like. Hopefully he can score some runs [in the Sheffield Shield] next week and we'll see how we go from there."